One hour later...
The hospital room is quiet except for the steady beep of monitors. Moira's asleep, her face finally relaxed. They managedto lower her blood pressure. The contractions stopped. The baby's heartbeat stays strong and steady on the monitor.
She's safe. They're both safe. For now.
Lorenzo sits in the chair beside her bed, holding her hand. He hasn't moved in an hour. Hasn't let go. His eyes stay fixed on her face as if he looks away for even a second, something terrible will happen.
I've been checking my laptop every few minutes. Yuri's been sending updates. Anton's signal is moving. Still active. Still operational.
"I'm taking a break," I tell Lorenzo quietly.
He nods without looking away from Moira.
I grab my laptop and head to the waiting room. The entire wing is blocked off, Lorenzo's doing. No one else here. No one to see what we're doing.
Yuri sits in the corner, laptop open, a can of Coke in his other hand. I drop into the chair beside him.
"Want one?" He gestures with the can to a vending machine down the hall.
"No."
He takes a sip, then sets it down. His fingers never stop moving across the keyboard. "Anton's moving through the warehouse district right now."
He reaches into his bag, pulls out an earpiece, and hands it to me. "Here. You'll want to hear this."
I take it and fit it into my ear. Static crackles, then voices. Muffled. Hard to make out.
I watch the screen. Green dots moving through a blueprint overlay. Anton's tracker pulses steadily.
Then I hear it.
Gunfire.
My heart stops.
More shots. Rapid. Overlapping. The sound of a firefight crackles through the earpiece.
Then silence.
The green dot that marks Anton's signal flickers.
And disappears.
Chapter 19
Altered State
Fee:
"Anton." His name scrapes raw against my throat.
There's a blank space on the laptop screen where his signal used to be. Nothing.
I grab Yuri's arm. "Where is he?"
Yuri's eyes meet mine.
"Breathe, Fee."
